4 iPhone Development On Windows Options
Some time ago I decided to list a couple of options available for iPhone development on windows. Now, months later this is still something that has been brought up recently. So I have decided to expand the list, and include some of the other solutions that have cropped up since the original posting, and some upcoming that look interesting. Please note, that there is no official solution for developing for the iPhone SDK on windows (and it’s doubtful there ever will be).
At some point you will need to compile your app on the official iPhone SDK running on the Mac OS X if your goal is to get your app in to Apple’s iPhone app store. Now, I know there is the obvious "hackintosh" solution, but I won’t get into that, not only is it possibly illegal, but I’ve seen someone try it… and it was a major continuous hassle, every update of the OS and SDK cost them valuable hours, when they could just get a sub-$600 Mac Mini and avoid all hassles. That being said there are ways to develop your iPhone app in windows.
I am limiting those shown here to those from which apps already available in the store have been created with, and some that appear to be exceptionally well done.
These two Windows alternatives are specifically for entertainment apps, and will allow you to (when the projects are loaded on a mac) compile directly into code usable on the iPhone. Both of these game development engines offer a free trial.
1) Unity 3D – Game development engine and editor that utilizes Boo and C# and the editor works on both Windows and Mac.
2) Stonetrip S3D – Game develop engine and editor utilizing LUA, the editor runs within Windows.
Both these solutions can compile to code that is native to the iPhone and many apps available in the app store have been created using them.
These solutions allow you to create apps using web technologies (HTML/CSS/Javascript) and then run them through an Objective-C framework that responds to actions within a UIWebView, thus allowing you to access native functionality on the iPhone. These frameworks are free.
3) Appcelerator Titanium – This is probably the most complete of these development platforms at this stage (other than the above game engines), and extensive support is provided.
4) Genuitec MobiOne – This is an interface designer that uses the Phonegap framework to deliver native functionality. It only runs on windows.
There are a couple of other solutions that were either in testing, required payment without any form of trial (or in some cases even screenshots), or just aren’t out yet. The most promising of those solutions are Flash CS5 (which supposedly may let you bypass the Mac altogether), and the Dragonfire SDK (you can visit their site, and sign up for the dragonfire beta.).
Best of luck, if you know of any other alternatives that enable iPhone Development on Windows then please list them below.
http://www.DragonFireSDK.com is a good Windows solution if your game isn't 3d. I've been developing my app over the last month and I'm about ready to ship it to the app store. Check it out.
cool. Love that we have option to develop IPhone apps in windows machine without spending extra money to get mac machine.
Hi!
I am developing games for iPhone in Ubuntu, but the procedure should be the same in Windows.
I opted for the same Mac Mini solution but instead, I'm programming in C++ using Netbeans (or Eclipse, whatever fits your needs)
I mounted a shared folder with the Mac and I have the Xcode and Netbeans projects sharing sources inside of it.
So the development is my PC with Ubuntu using Netbeans, and when I need to compile I just use a VNC desktop view of the Mac Mine to build the Xcode project and deploy on iPhone.
I have this shared folder also configured as a working copy with subversion so I can share my changes with other developers aswell, mainly artist so they can test their gfx!
That's great. Yeah, VNC or another remote desktop app is definitely an option I didn't think of when writing the article.
If one developer has a mac that could be a good plan.
Well, Appcelerator Titanium does create iphone apps only on Macs, not on Windows. I was led to believe that it could, but checking the site and the videos, I saw that it is not possible. But you can try sentenza (sentenzaforiphone.com), which seems a viable (including costwise) software.
Well, nothing really “creates” native iPhone apps that you can sell in the app store on Windows (Flash CS5 may allow you to do this). There is always a mac in the process. You can definitely use Appcelerator on Windows.
Well, you can create the app and compile it (maybe), but you cannot run it, as the iphone emulator (official) only runs on Mac. One of the programmer of Titanium said: “It's currently not possible to develop iPhone applications on Windows through the Titanium Developer. We may offer services in the future around iPhone testing on Windows, but today it does not work as the iPhone 3.0 SDK is only available on Mac.” (Kevin Whinnery)
That's just semantics though, as you can “develop” you just can't test things out in the simulator.
I'm inches away from sending my app to the app store. DragonFireSDK gets around the Mac “issue” by providing a Mac Server that builds the app for you… pretty great as I don't want to be coding in some hack environment.
This is a vid of my experience with DragonFireSDK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmisN2AifsU
You can use Tersus (free, open source):
http://www.tersus.com/#Id=3215